Senior Year in Pineapple Hell
by Shinsei Tonbo
Summary: An After Holiday Prompt Fest story for the stevedannoslash community. High school AU. There was so much I wanted to do that I will add bits and pieces over time. Snippets into the story extrapolating on what I already have and after.
1. Senior Year in Pineapple Hell

Danny Williams slouched his way to Kukui High School four days into the semester, pissed off at his father's procrastination and unsure as to how he was supposed to fit in the last year of high school in a new state drastically different from his home.

He'd gone with his father for only one reason and while he was not happy being in Hawaii—away from everything he knew—he'd do it again in a heartbeat.

The reason?

Grace.

His adorable little half sister was more his daughter than his father's.

Finding out his father was having an affair with his young secretary, and that he got her pregnant, shocked and almost completely destroyed his family.

That the woman was only five years Danny's senior and didn't want anything to do with the little girl was even more devastating.

Then his father's company promoted him to a position in Oahu, Hawaii and as the only guardian of Grace, she was going with him.

It was a punch to the gut and Danny knew he had to go with him, if only to stay with her. If she stayed with just his dad, she'd grow up with only the passing notion of what a parent was supposed to be and become either a hellion causing trouble or a spoiled brat with no authoritative figures to stop her.

So here he was in Pineapple Hell—staring at the place he'd be spending his last year of primary educational servitude. He no longer had any plans for college, at least nothing concrete, and while he was a good shortstop there was no point when he only had a year left and Grace to take care of.

The blond sighed and made his way to the office, wanting nothing more than to go catch some air or grinding with his board or maybe go take some good photos of the island.

Even missing his home, Hawaii was a beautiful place and his bitching to Mattie didn't do it justice.

The secretary pointed him to Principal Jameson's office and he got a welcome speech, a map of the school, and his schedule. He smiled and nodded politely through the meeting and when he was free to walk the halls the same blank face he'd been wearing for everything but being with Grace took it custom spot.

He knocked lightly on what to be his homeroom and walked in. There was the standard introduction, giving him a seat, and assigning him a guide, all things he'd gone through when he was younger and they still moved a lot.

He looked over his guide, appreciating his form for what it was but knowing he had to have the personality and intelligence of a rock.

Steven McGarrett, quarterback number 50. Guy was way to fucking tall and popular perfect in his football jersey and cargo pants.

Danny decided to hate him on those principles alone.

He escaped home room as fast as possible and tried to lose the football jock, only for his blank expression to disappear and a scowl take its place when he heard it.

"Yo Jersey, wait up!"

Ice blue eyes pinned McGarrett to the spot, "Just because I'm from New Jersey, doesn't mean it can be used in lieu of my name."

The insane jock just grinned at his ire, "Lieu? Really? Who uses words like that? And would you rather I call you 'Haole'? That name is worse."

Danny's scowled deepened and wave an irritated hand at the jock, "Whatever," and peered at his schedule and map before stalking off to Honors Biology, "You realize I can, in fact, find my own way around a high school. It's not all that hard."

"I know, but it's my job to make sure you find your way around here, besides we have a similar schedule, so I might as well do it."

Danny watched out of the corner of his eye as McGarrett reached into one of his many pockets and pulled out a mango and a plastic knife as they walked. Deciding that maybe his usual snark would send the guy running he decided to see how quickly it happened and if he'd be threatened with violence like most others of his type would do when face with some who was mouthy and smaller than them.

"Great, they stuck me with a football playing giant Boy Scout for a guide. Don't tell me you have the perfect girl too, else I may have to take a detour to the men's room to lose my breakfast."

McGarrett blinked, "How'd you know I was in the boy scouts?"

Danny stopped and stared at the behemoth in front of him, "You've got to be fuckin' with me."

When Steve continued to stare at him in confusion, Danny just shook his head and began to mutter under his breath in the Irish Gaelic his mother had raised them with at home as they continued to walk.

The two spent most of the day together, though grudgingly on Danny's part, and he felt himself beginning to like this dorky quarterback.

And he was dorky.

Since they had paired him with Steve to show him around, the Biology teacher decided that they might as well be lab partners too.

McGarrett enjoyed science way too much to be a normal jock.

Not only was he excited about what they were doing he already knew what they were talking about. The fool also saved a geek, one who actually looked like a geek at least, from one of his own teammates.

Steven McGarrett. Quarterback. Boy Scout. Science Geek. Protector of other science geeks.

This guy just did not make sense; he was tall and lumbering, goofy and quirky and smart, he protected those who were picked on by others, though completely and utterly male in that he enjoyed running and tackling and launching himself off of the low walls and guard rails in the quad.

Danny sighed as he finished paying for this week's groceries and went to pick up Grace from daycare.

That Neanderthal was going to drive him nuts, he knew it.

Three weeks after that first day of school found Danny making dinner for him and Grace, trying not to let his thoughts stray to those of his lab partner. The more time he spent with him, the more he fell for the guy and there was no way to stop it.

Danny grinned as Grace giggled, playing and eating her macaroni and cheese and peas as he worked on his homework and ate himself.

His father was currently on the actual island named Hawaii and wouldn't be back for at least two weeks, maybe more. Not that it had any real bearing on what Danny did with Grace, they went on as they always had since she had been born; his father was just the silent sperm donor who paid for her daycare and the house.

Danny bought the groceries, cleaned, took Grace to daycare and picked her up; the one who played and laughed with Grace when she was fussy, changed her and held her and comforted her and took her to the doctor when she was sick.

She was his little girl and they had their routine.

Danny glanced up when he heard a knock at the door.

"Alright you," he tweaked her nose, "gimme that while I check the door, I don't want you choking."

He couldn't help the laugh when she pouted at him for taking away her meal, but the glee on her face when he handed her the chocolate milk made him laugh harder and his heart to swell with tenderness.

When Danny opened the door he was momentarily surprised to see McGarrett there before he remembered telling the quarterback that he got off from work at six; a photography place that allowed him to keep Grace with him since she was well behaved as he either manipulated pictures already taken or did the scheduled sessions himself.

He resigned himself to the fact that apparently McGarrett was not a procrastinator and steeled himself for the judgment and the questions.

"You really are a boy scout goody two shoes aren't you? That's the only reasonable explanation for why you're here at six thirty in the evening the very day we get assigned an assignment we have to work on together in our off hours."

Steve grinned unrepentantly, "Aloha to you too, Jersey. It's better to get it done early than to put it off."

Danny sighed, "Alright come on then, we're in the kitchen; I made homemade macaroni and cheese for dinner."

Before Steve could ask who else was there he saw the little girl in the booster seat. She had Danny's eyes, though hazel instead of surf blue, and his blond hair done in plaits on both sides of her head.

"Oo dat, Danno?"

Danny smiled softly at his Grace before he pulled the sippy cup from her hands and gave her back her dinner, "This Steve, Gracie, he goes to school with Danno like you do with Aolani."

She gave them a cheese and noodle filled toothy grin, "hewo, 'Teve."

"Steve this is Grace, she is, for all intents and purposes, my daughter even if biologically she's my half sister."

Steve blinked at the two as he watched Danny get him a glass and plate after he nodded at gestured offer of food.

"Hi Grace, it's nice to meet you. What is it you called him?"

The little girl began to play with her peas, "He's my Danno. Danno takes me to school and gives me dinner and Little Einsteins and Spongebob and takes me swimming and baths and tucks me in for bed and presents! I'm two now." She held up three fingers, "I love my Danno."

Steve smiled at her, "You're two, huh? Where's your dad?"

"I dunno, Danno takes care of me, not him. And I'm almost three and Danno says that we are going to have a party at the beach and I can have Aolani and Kara and Kai over and we get to go swimming and then we all get to make pizza here! Do you wanna help us make pizza 'Teve?"

Steve swallowed his own bite of the, admittedly good, macaroni and cheese, "If Danno says its okay for me to come, I will. I'll even help him if he wants me too."

Danny gave Steve the stink eye for using Grace's name for him before sighing, "Sure go ahead, you can come, don't forget to bring her a present. She's old enough for Barbies now, but nothing to complicated, she really likes the Monster High Dolls right now. Her favorite is Lagoona Blue, huh Monkey?"

"She's pretty and blue and she swims, Danno! I'm learning to swim too, but Draclulaura and Frankie and Cleo are pretty too."

Danny made some silly face at her as he wiped Grace's face off making her giggle and missed the oddly affectionate look Steve gave him as he watched the normally brusque and often times abrasive blond be soft and tender to his little girl.

Jersey was steadily worming his way in to his heart, despite Steve's best attempts at keeping him out of it. He wasn't used to feeling this way, he hadn't with Catherine, or Kayla, or Victor, despite being physical with each of them.

But seeing the blond being soft and tender with this little girl when he already admired him for standing up for the sophomore pot head hacker, Toast, against four of the guys from the football team, he couldn't help but feel those unnamed feelings grow.

Two months after he met Grace, Steve couldn't help the smile that was on his face after spending the majority of Saturday with them both; he'd gotten horribly close to the little girl that melted both his blond friend and anyone else she got close too.

Even his Dad had to admit the pair were alarmingly endearing, though that also prompted one of the most embarrassing moments in his life.

Steve had thought he'd kept his budding attraction and his feelings for Danno tightly under wraps until the two had left his home one night after spending it with him and his family for dinner.

It was then that his father had cornered him as he did the dishes and told him that if he was thinking about being with Danny it would be fine, as long as he was sure and to be careful if they tried to experiment.

Blushing bright red and stuttering that things weren't that between the two of them, he couldn't help but wonder how his father had found out.

He hadn't even known about the brief, if slightly violent, affair he'd had with Hesse the teams second QB.

Still, as he made his way home after helping Danny clean up from the party, he found himself having more fun taunting and tormenting his haole and spending time with him and Grace than he did going to parties or making out with cheerleaders.

He hoped Danno was okay with him being around so much, he really thought he was starting to feel what must be love for him and his daughter.

Steve laughed at himself, he couldn't help it as he put away his portion of the pizza they'd made, Grace really wasn't Danny's sister, she was in every way, shape, and form his daughter.

He was ok with that; if anything it made him love Danny more.

Danny wasn't quite sure when his home became the meeting place for the official and unofficial McGarrett Clan.

Kono and Mary Anne seemed to follow either him or Steve after school and then after he picked up Grace they'd all be at his house for dinner and homework.

He still often found it startling to find Chin Ho in full officer regalia at his front door to pick up his little cousin after dinner and he was done with his shift.

Hell, even Toast made an appearance now and then for dinner too.

The oddest thing that had become the norm was the presence of Steve.

He was always there after school helping with dinner and often ended up sleeping in the spare room; he had even begun picking up Grace when he got free earlier than Danny.

They seemed to gravitate to each other, even in school where they existed in completely different social circles; they somehow ended up eating lunch together or pairing off with each other in the classes they did share.

And it didn't really help the way he was feeling about the guy either, especially after he caught sight of the tattoos Mr. McGarrett had let Steve get for his birthday. Steve had begun to star prominently in his dreams either as a participant in his personal sexual fantasies and dreams.

Many times he'd caught himself watching those bare marked shoulders, his teeth itching to nibble their outline and his tongue salivating over what the dips between his muscles would taste like.

It was thoughts like those that lead him to this old cement bowl he'd found two weeks into his stay here.

He really had to thank Mrs. Kalakaua for watching Grace when he needed time to physically vent his frustrations.

He couldn't help the adrenaline rush he felt as he saw the pavement coming up to meet him as he fell from the sky, couldn't help the hitch in his breath when he saw Steve leaning against the worn fence from the corner of his eye.

The sound of cement beneath his wheels and wind whistling past his ears did nothing to stave off the heat that welled up his spine as he realized that Steve wasn't just waiting for him, he was _watching _him.

When he had lost enough momentum and had worked out most of his tension, if not his current euphoria and state of almost arousal, Danny rode his board up the wall and hopped off.

He was grinning wide and breathless when he faced Steve.

"You know, theoretically skateboarding is not all that different from surfing. You'd be great in the water."

"You're still not getting me out there, you Neanderthal."

"Anyways you're pretty good on that thing," Danny had to fight off a shiver at the heat in Steve's eyes, "How come you didn't tell anyone about that?"

Danny sighed as they began walking towards Steve's beat up truck, "It's one of the things that I use to help clear my head, not something I usually share with others."

Steve frowned, "What's on your mind?"

Danny grinned as he placed the board behind his head as if he were in the stocks "Don't you know?"

"Know? Know what? I thought I was the one asking the questions?"

Danny stopped and stared at Steve before he rolled his eyes and threw all caution to the wind, "A haole I may be, 'brah,' but you are the emotionally densest person I know Steve."

And then he pulled the taller man down to his lips with a handful of his football jersey.

Danny grinned as he picked Grace up, Steve right behind him, and Mrs. Kalakaua plied them with food before they went home together.

When he had moved here all he had was his 'daughter' and now he had a man he was starting to believe he had fallen in love with, had inadvertently begun to build a life with despite being still in high school, and friends he considered Family.

Over all Senior Year in Pineapple Hell wasn't turning out to be too bad.


	2. The Wayside

Mathew Williams Sr. had watched as his eldest son raised his daughter.

His daughter, not his son's, his.

And yet he was hardly present in her life—he'd been hardly present in any of his children's lives.

He wondered when he'd let life get away from him, let the children he'd wanted so much when he was younger fall to the wayside for his job.

Aoife had raised the kids while he was off working, hardly ever home and always uprooting them for his job up and down the east coast.

She'd raised one hell of a son, though.

He watched from the road as Daniel, his eldest, took pictures with his camera and played with the kids gathered for this special day.

He watched as Grace, his youngest, ran up to the young blond and showed him something she'd found in the sand; the smile he'd given her before his tugged on one of her braids spoke volumes of their relationship.

Biologically, Grace was his daughter.

In every way that counted, Daniel was her father.

He watched as his . . . his _granddaughter_ ran up to another young man and showed him the same thing before he swept her up and carried her around causing her to shriek in joy.

He wasn't going to intrude; this was their day, their celebration.

It's not every day your little girl turns three, after all.


	3. Preparations

Danny yawned as he drank his coffee, desperately trying to wake himself up before Steve got there.

It was Grace's birthday and he had too much to do, though now he was actually glad that Steve had offered to help months ago.

He never figured the guy would actually do it though—McGarrett was odd in more than a few ways but _most_ of them were good.

He'd made the pizza dough with Grace's help last night, sliced and shredded the Pepperoni and Cheese, diced Mushrooms and Olives, cut up—he grimaced—pineapple and peppers; everything was ready.

He couldn't believe the geek had somehow managed to get his Dad to okay them having the party at their house on their beach.

Danny was scrubbing a towel through his blond hair, which was getting lighter to longer he stayed here, when he heard the knock signaling Steve's arrival.

Steve bounced on his toes as he waited for Danno to open the door—the blond may have put up a fuss every time he used that name but that didn't stop him from using it while they were only among friends and family—eager for the day to get underway, excited to give Grace her birthday present and give her the best birthday ever.

The brunette's mouth went dry when Danny opened the door in nothing but some stray water droplets, black board shorts, and a towel in hand.

Oh Damn. He was in trouble.

"Hey, you're here," he swallowed hard and followed the blond into the house as he continued to dry off, "Grace is still asleep and I have most of the food prepared, we just have to pack it up with the decorations and presents I got her and take it over there. You sure you have the cake done and everything?"

Steve nodded and grunted an affirmative as he got a glass of juice from the fridge, "Yeah, I asked Kono's Gran if she would make the cake and some other sweets, and since Kono helped when you said she could come, she didn't even charge me anything except for the ingredients."

"Really? You didn't have to pay for it, I would have—"

"Come on now Danno, when have I let you do everything on your own?"

The blond scowled, "Haven't I told you not to use Grace's name for me?"

"Yeah, but at least I only use it around friends and family and not at school, besides, it a term of endearment, like Jersey. It just means I like you."

Danny sighed, "A term of endearment, huh? I can live with that I suppose. What all did you ask Kono and her grandma to make?"

"Just some cocoa puffs, malasadas—since I know how much you like those—a Guava cake, and chocolate and butter mochi."

Danny stared at him in shock, his eyes wide, "You've never been around little kids with lots of sugar have you? Even three year olds are horrible with that much sugar. Factoring in Kono and Mary, do you have any idea how much of a hell its gunna be with everyone hyped on that much kiddie crack?"

Steve quirked his head to the side, "Kiddie crack? What do you mean?"

Danny closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose in a futile attempt to stave off the McGarrett induced headache; he swore sometimes that for as smart as the guy was, he was just as dumb normal wise.

"Yes, kiddie crack, sugar. Because it's white and powdery and has the same effects as crack on kids without all of the negatives with the actual substance, hence the name. Instead we get cavities, obesity, possible diabetes, and the welcomed after sugar rush crash we Parental figures yearn for after about ten minutes of the sweets induced mania. Trust me; despite the energy you have you'll be exhausted after the party."

Steve paused as he thought about it, finishing off the grapefruit pomegranate juice Danny seemed to favor to pineapple juice. "You know I never thought about it that way. Well it is her birthday, aren't kids supposed to get hyped up on sugar on their birthday? I know you don't let her have sugar much during the week, but come on, it's her birthday."

Danny forced back a growl, "Once a week, I let her have Shave Ice only once a week and suddenly I'm the bad guy. In every other facet of a person's diet it has to all be lean and fat free, but Shave Ice ever day is okay."

"Not every day."

Danny sighed and handed the cooler full of the pizza makings, "Here, take the pizza stuff while I get her presents and the decorations loaded up. When everything is loaded up why don't you go drop that stuff at your house and I'll wake up Sleeping Beauty. Do you want to come and get us or should I meet you there when she's up?"

"I'll come get you both. Mary said she'd help put up the decorations and Kono is supposed to show up with the cake and stuff soon so she'll have help."

Danny made sure everything was tied securely in the back of Steve's beat up Chevy truck, "Alright. Chin's off today, too, isn't he?"

"Yeah, Kono said she's drag him over with her if she managed to catch him before he gets the chance to go surfing today. You know that Kono has already decided that she's going to be teaching Grace to surf right?" The brunette leaned against the passenger side door as he watched the blonde for his reaction.

Danny just growled as he glared in the direction of the shore, then he sighed, "I know. I figured with the way she's enamored with the water already there'd be no stopping her when she gets older. That's why I told Kono she could give Grace a kid's boogie board and start teaching her how to swim in open water for her birthday." He scowled at eyebrow Steve lifted at him, "You're still not getting me out there. Not . . . not yet, I'm still acclimating to the sand, it gets everywhere."

Steve rolled his eyes, "Whatever you say, Danno, whatever you say. Go get the Kamāliʻi wahine _(princess)_ up so she can have her party."

Danny waved his hand at him as if he was fed up as he went inside, his back to Steve so he couldn't see the smile on his face.

He wouldn't have been able to stand it if the Neanderthal figured out he was beginning to pick up on the language, the idiot would start to get the idea he wanted to be Kama'aina eventually.

Fat chance of that ever happening . . . well it would have been, until he met that confusing, contradicting man. He seemed to have actually found a reason not to move back to New Jersey after he graduated and was allowed to take custody of Grace.


	4. The Least You Can Do is Try

Jack McGarrett had gone inside in order to get another beer for both himself and Chin when he noticed the unfamiliar car parked beside his home. He immediately became alert, angry at whomever dared to try interfere on Grace's birthday. Then he saw him, standing in the shadows of a tree, watching Danny and Grace the closest.

The man was in a suit and loafers, his tie fluttering in the afternoon breeze. He studied the man as he suddenly seemed incredibly angry and then—he just deflated. Sad and defeated, yet a morosely understanding smile was on his face.

Taking in the emotions the man was exuding he studied the man even closer and was startled to realize that the man watching from the shadows was Danny's father. He had the same jaw line and nose, the same light colored hair curly hair. He was of similar height and, though not as defined, build as his son. The only difference between the two was how happy Danny seemed to be and the _saudade_ air that surrounded his father.

With a sigh he quietly walked out to the man who appeared to be getting ready to leave his children without informing them he was there.

"You know, it's never too late to make amends. It might not be perfect, not like it would have been if you had been there for every important part of his life, but you'll still be a part of it."

Mathew Williams whirled around in shock, not having realized someone was behind him, and faced the man who had spoken, spooked not only by his presence but his words too, they hit home painfully accurately.

"I—uh, Mathew Williams, Daniel's Father." Jack nodded at the man, "I figured. You two look a lot alike. I'm Jack, Steve's Dad. He's the one who's tossing Gracie into the surf."

They both looked at where their children were, Danny taking pictures as Steve and Grace splashed at each other until Mary ran up and stole the camera and pushed Danny in as well. The two in the water laughed as Danny sat up and yelled at Mary before he got up and tackled Steve into the water himself, Grace jumping into the fray and leaving them all laughing uncontrollably.

Mathew's face showed how he was feeling as he fell back into forlorn nostalgia, "I hadn't realized, you know, how much I'd let my family stray from my sole purpose in life until I came back this morning. There on the calendar in the kitchen screamed at me that today was my youngest's birthday and there on the counter were notes scribbled in my eldest's handwriting what all had to be done to get ready for today, who was bringing what and what needed to be prepared."

Jack was quiet for a moment, "I'll admit that I've not been exactly Father of the Year for the past few years running myself." Mathew looked at the other man, not saying anything, just knowing he had to say it in his own time, "When my wife was murdered I practically abandoned Steve and Mary, I immersed myself in finding her killer so much. Your son," Jack couldn't withhold the laugh, "He's very in your face when he thinks something is wrong. He and Grace somehow managed to not only get Steve and Mary to get along and smile more but somehow broke me away from my obsession, at least so much as that it no longer has distracted me from the family I have left."

Mathew grinned wryly at that, "Yes, he's always had a very accurate view of what is right and wrong, morally at least. When I first got the promotion in my job that brought me here, he flat out told me he was coming with and I couldn't stop him if I had wanted too. He's very stubborn when he wants to be." The grin faded, "Because of that stubbornness, however, I'm not sure he'll ever quite forgive me for what I've done to our family."

Jack watched his kids and the ones that have somehow become his kids without ever consulting him, "I think he's a lot more forgiving than you think. You might not be close, but he'll let you be part of his life, and eventually you'll get there. Come on, the least you can do is tell her Happy Birthday."

Bright blue eyes, so much like the one's he'd gotten to know these past months, stared at him before he straightened his shoulders and nodded.

Looks like he added another person to their odd family.


	5. She's Yours

Danny froze minutely as soon as he caught a glimpse of his father standing next to Mr. McGarrett, tense and slightly angry that he decided now of all times to pop up in his children's lives. When Steve looked up from swinging Grace around and saw his tense posture he set her down and told her to go pull Mary and Kono into the water. He walked over to the shorter blond and lightly touched his arm, asking with his eyes what was wrong.

"My father is here, your dad intercepted him, but I," he was quiet for a moment, his eyes troubled," I don't know why he's here. He's never been interested in what we've done before, hell before Grace was born Ma was the only parent I was sure we had."

Steve froze slightly, he knew Danny's father was more absent than his had ever been, but the indignant anger he felt on behalf of his friend was not something he figured the man would take well. The shorter male was proud, he supported himself and Grace with the job he got when he left school, he had applied for early entry into Honolulu Community College for an associate's in Administrative Justice, half of next semester's courses being there instead of Kuikui High, and was aiming for a position in law enforcement. And hopefully, he'd told him one night, he planned on getting a Bachelor's in Criminal Justice when he could, then maybe he'd eventually make it to detective. All those plans and dreams orbited around one person though, Grace, and Matthew Williams was not someone who would make any of those plans easy or come true.

Steve cleared his throat and tried not to let that anger be apparent, glancing at where he saw his father talking with a blond man with startling similarities to the one in front of him, " what do you want to do?"

"I dunno. I suppose I'll just have to let the cards fall where they will."

Steve blinked at that, at the quiet resignation he could hear in the normally loud confident voice, "You can't mean you're just going to give up to whatever he says, right? I mean, come on Danno, that little girl is yours, she comes to you for everything, all he did was donate some DNA and pay for the house you're living in."

"Exactly Steve. He's currently the one who owns the roof over our heads and supposedly has custody of her. He has all the power to take her away from me."

"He won't."

"You don't know that."

"Yeah I do. If he's been standing there, then he's seen you with her, and since Dad is there he's hopefully talked him into understanding that she's yours just by what he's seen of you together. Besides, I'm sure Dad and Chin know someone who would represent you in court if you have to go there and we've all seen how much you support her. Hell Danno, her doctor thought you were her Father, everyone does. No one realizes you're not her dad unless you tell them.

"She's your girl, no one, not even him, can take her from you."

He was holding Danny's shoulder in a tight grip, his eyes intense as he stared into surf blue orbs opposite him.

Danny couldn't help the grin that stretched at his lips, "You sayin' you got my back, Boy-scout?"

Steve's brow twitched at the moniker Danny had given him shortly after they met, something that he used rarely anymore. Instead of swiping at the blond he just grinned, "You can bet your short stature on it, Jersey."

Jack McGarrett and Matthew Williams stopped watching the girls play in the surf when they heard Danny bellow modified obscenities and threats at Steve, chasing after the taller male as he ran in obscure patterns to keep away from the spitfire behind him.

Matthew grinned at the sight, "They always like that? I know Danny has always had a temper, but it was never something I actively thought about."

Jack snorted at the thought as they saw Danny take Steve down with a leaping tackle and Matthew's eyes grew large at the violence they were playfully heaping on each other, "Yes. Your son has one hell of a right hook too, not to mention the other fighting moves he's got. I have no idea where he got them from but one day some of the guys from their school, who were definite Hawaiian Nationalists from the stuff they were saying, cornered him one weekend. He was coming to meet us for dinner, since he had to work and Steve watched Grace for the day. The only way we knew something was wrong was a brief text he sent about being held up not too far from where we were waiting and that he might be a bit bloody and to not worry. Needless to say, we couldn't not worry and Steve left Grace with me and hurried on ahead. By the time we got there three of them were on the ground and Steve had basically dislocated one of their shoulders while he held onto him and Danny was genially telling their leader why he shouldn't try to beat up on the haoles because most weren't as forgiving as him as he had a foot on the guy's sternum.

"I'll admit it was mildly disturbing to see him do that, but considering the one beneath him was muttering threats to both him and _Grace_, I can understand. I've seen him take a whole bunch of shit thrown at him because of his haole status, but once someone he cares about is mentioned or threatened he turns deadly. He's quite the protector. The only thing I see him having problems with is holding back that violence once he's out on the job."

Matthew was once again silent for a few minutes, studying his son again as he was now just playfully wrestling with the taller teen in the sand and no longer aiming to hurt. It was . . . both disheartening and making him surprisingly proud to learn this about his son, even though he didn't learn about this himself.

"What do you mean on the job?"

Jack shrugged and looked at the man next to him, "He plans on getting an associate's in something criminal justice related and then going to the academy to become an officer. Apparently, he also told Steve that when that's done he wants to get a bachelor's once Grace is in school and then shoot for detective. If there's anyone that could do it, it would be him. I have a feeling that Steve is going to be there for the entire ride if he can help it. They haven't said anything to anyone, probably not even with each other, but I think they're falling in love. That doesn't bother you does it?"

"No," the answer was quiet and introspective, Matthew not entirely in the present, "No that doesn't bother me. Surprising that he wants to be a cop and that they are falling in love so young, but him and Steve being together doesn't bother me."

Jack nodded and the two moved into the house, Matthew shedding some of his work attire and exchanging it for a beer instead.

They stayed in the cool environment for a few minutes before they went back outside to greet the sun and the kids once more.


	6. Daddy and Danno

Three year old Grace didn't know a whole lot about life, except that Danno was Danno and he'd always be there.

Daddy was only one who left all the time.

She knew that Daddy made Danno mad and sad, that he hurt him.

So while she was playing with Auntie Mary and Auntie Kono, she saw Daddy standing next to Papa Jack she couldn't help but wonder why he was there.

Daddy was never there, why was he there now?

But then she saw Danno and Steve talking to them and she could see the hurt on Danno's face turn into something . . . she didn't know.

But then they shook hands and it was the first time she had ever seen them touch. Daddy had never hugged or played with Danno's hair like Danno did hers, he had never even patted him on the back.

It made her grin and start playing with her Aunties some more.

This was the best birthday she'd ever had, she had all of her family there with her, that's what made it the best.


End file.
